Reproduction of a Little Owl Athene noctua female controlled breeding over 12 years

Ein über 12 Jahre brütend kontrolliertes Steinkauz-Weibchen zeigte eine hohe Brutortstreue und Partnertreue über drei Jahre. In 11 Brutjahren legte es 49 Eier, aus denen 36 Nestlinge das Beringungsalter (10.-14. Lebenstag) erreichten. Ab dem Alter von 10 Jahren wurden durchschnittlich 0,8 Eier pro Jahr weniger gelegt. Von den 36 Nachkommen siedelten sich 2 Weibchen und 1 Männchen selbst wieder in der untersuchten Population an. Bis zum Alter von 9 Jahren lässt sich ein deutlicher Zusammenhang zwischen Bestandsdichte der Feldmaus als Hauptbeute und dem Termin des Legebeginns feststellen.A female of the little owl has been observed breeding over 12 years in a Southwestern German study area. The bird showed a high degree of nest site fidelity and a partner fidelity over three years. During 11 breeding periods the female incubated 49 eggs with a breeding success of 36 nestlings which reached the age of ringing (day of life 10 - 14). From the age of 10 years onwards average clutch size was reduced by 0.8 eggs per year. Out of 36 offspring two females and one male were recruited to the same studied population. Up to an age of 9 years a clear relationship persists between density of the main prey, the field vole Microtus arvalis and the date of the first egg

Blind und sehend in einer Person

Es wird der Fall einer Patientin mit Dissoziativer Identitätsstörung vorgestellt, die nach 15-jähriger, als kortikal diagnostizierter Blindheit im Laufe einer psychotherapeutischen Behandlung schrittweise wieder zu sehen begann. Zunächst konnten nur einige wenige Persönlichkeitsanteile wieder sehen, während andere weiterhin blind waren. Dies konn-te durch elektrophysiologische Untersuchungen bestätigt werden, in denen die noch blinden Persönlichkeitsanteile ausbleibende, die sehenden Persönlichkeitsanteile hin-gegen völlig unauffällige, reguläre evozierte Potentiale aufwiesen. Das Umschalten zwi-schen sehenden und blinden Anteilen konnte übergangslos geschehen. Als neuronale Grundlage der psychogenen Blindheit kommt eine „top-down“ Modulation der Aktivität der primären Sehbahn, auf Ebene des Thalamus oder primären visuellen Kortex, in Be-tracht. Mittels VEP-Untersuchungen kann daher eine psychogene Blindheit nicht von organischen Ursachen einer Unterbrechung der Sehbahn abgegrenzt werden. Zusam-menfassend scheint psychogene Blindheit den Zufluß visueller Information auf früher Stufe zu blockieren

Inherent photoluminescence Stokes shift in GaAs

The intrinsic photoluminescence Stokes shift, i.e., the energy difference between optical band gap and emission peak, of 350 μm thick semi-insulating GaAs wafers is found to be 4 meV at room temperature. The result is based on the determination of the optical bulk band gap from the transmission trend via modified Urbach rule whose result is confirmed with the transmission derivative method. The findings reveal the detailed balance of the optically evoked transitions and disclose the intrinsic link between Stokes shift and the Urbach tail slope parameter

The role of flood wave superposition in the severity of large floods

The severity of floods is shaped not only by eventand catchment-specific characteristics but also depends on the river network configuration. At the confluence of relevant tributaries with the main river, flood event characteristics may change depending on the magnitude and temporal match of flood waves. This superposition of flood waves may potentially increase the flood severity downstream in the main river. However, this aspect has not been analysed for a large set of river confluences to date. To fill this gap, the role of flood wave superposition in the flood severity at downstream gauges is investigated in four large river basins in Germany and Austria (the Elbe, the Danube, the Rhine and the Weser). A novel methodological approach to analyse flood wave superposition is presented and applied to mean daily discharge data from 37 triple points. A triple point consists of three gauges: one in the tributary as well as one upstream and downstream of the confluence with the main river respectively. At the triple points, differences and similarities in flood wave characteristics between the main river and the tributary are analysed in terms of the temporal match and the magnitudes of flood peaks. At many of the confluences analysed, the tributary peaks consistently arrive earlier than the main river peaks, although high variability in the time lag is generally detected. No large differences in temporal matching are detected for floods of different magnitudes. In the majority of cases, the largest floods at the downstream gauge do not occur due to perfect temporal match between the tributary and the main river. In terms of spatial variability, the impact of flood wave superposition is site-specific. Characteristic patterns of flood wave superposition are detected for flood peaks in the Danube River, where peak discharges largely increase due to inflow from alpine tributaries. Overall, we conclude that the superposition of flood waves is not the driving factor behind flood peak severity at the major confluences in Germany; however, a few confluences show the potential for strong flood magnifications if a temporal shift in flood waves was to occur

Pulsed Laser Deposition of Graphite Counter Electrodes for Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells

We report on pulsed laser deposition of graphite onto flexible plastic and conductive glass substrates for use as a counter electrode in dye-sensitized solar cells. The efficiency of as-prepared graphite electrodes was tested using CdS-sensitized solar cell architecture resulting in external quantum efficiency comparable to that of conventional platinum counter electrodes. This work highlights the possibility of using pulsed laser deposited graphite as a low-cost alternative to platinum, which could be fabricated both on flexible and rigid substrates

Photoluminescence lineshape of ZnO

The merger of the absorption coefficient dispersion, retrieved from transmission by the modified Urbach rule introduced by Ullrich and Bouchenaki [Jpn. J. Appl. Phys. 30, L1285, 1991], with the extended Roosbroeck-Shockley relation reveals that the optical absorption in ZnO distinctively determines the photoluminescence lineshape. Additionally, the ab initio principles employed enable the accurate determination of the carrier lifetime without further specific probing techniques

Synthesis Of Pbs/tio2 Colloidal Heterostructures For Photovoltaic Applications

We report on heteroepitaxial growth of nearly monodisperse PbS nanocrystals onto the surface of TiO2 nanoparticles via colloidal hot-injection routes. Fabricated PbS/TiO2 nanocomposites can be dispersed in nonpolar solvents, which enables an easy solution processing of these materials into mesoporous films for use as light-absorbing layers in nanocrystal-sensitized solar cells. High-temperature deposition of the sensitizer material allows controlling both the size and the number of PbS domains grown onto TiO2 nanoparticles, whereby providing synthetic means for tuning the absorbance spectrum of PbS/TiO2 nanocomposites and simultaneously enhancing their photocatalytic response in the visible and near-infrared. Compared with conventional ionic bath deposition of PbS semiconductors onto TiO2, the reported method results in an improved nanocrystal quality and narrower distribution of PbS sizes; meanwhile, the use of hot-temperature deposition of PbS (T = 180 degrees C) promotes the formation of near-epitaxial relationships between PbS and TiO2 domains, leading to fewer interfacial defects. The photovoltaic response of pyridine-treated PbS/TiO2 nanocomposites was investigated using a two-electrode cell filled with polysulfide electrolyte. The measured photocurrent compared favorably to that of PbS/TiO2 electrodes fabricated via chemical bath deposition